Alzheimer's drugs 'help glaucoma'

Drugs which slow the progress of Alzheimer's disease may protect patients at risk of eye damage from glaucoma, say researchers.

The University College London team said experiments suggested there were strong similarities between the conditions.

But they stress that the 500,000 UK people with glaucoma are not at higher risk of Alzheimer's.

The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is welcomed by a leading eye charity.

At the moment, little is known about the origins of glaucoma, although patients are offered operations and drug treatment to treat raised pressure within the eye, which can harm eyesight by interfering with blood supply to the optic nerve.

Some glaucoma patients have normal eye pressure, but still lose their eyesight, and the research team, led by Dr Francesca Cordeiro, said that the link with Alzheimer's could offer more clues to glaucoma's causes, and lead to treatments.